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Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Yesterday I was alerted by someone that Criterion had taken a photo from my blog and re-blogged it. Now, usually, I think it's cool as was the case with Letters of Note that used another of my photos for a post. Not in this case. I've heard of numerous occasions where people find out that corporations are taking their photos from Flickr and other sources and used in their ads or marketing materials. Criterion, a company that sells DVDs, used an image that they did not pay for, to market their product. I found this hypocritical. If we were to take an image or any material Criterion produced or paid for, we'd have a lawyer on our asses. I made a big deal because I don't think it's fair for profit-making corporations to behave in this way. I let them know by posting the proof of my ownership on their wall (two links to blog posts). I looked in Criterion's website for an email and all they had was customer service addresses. You can't email a FB page, so the only choice I had was to alert them publicly. And of course, the internet haters with nothing better to do, always emerge. It's beyond my comprehension that someone would turn against a complete stranger just because for some reason they don't like you. It's funny too. Oh yes, dude...I'm rolling in it because of this blog. Ooo fame, fortune, come to me!!!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, this insignificant little blog THAT NO ONE FUCKING READS is merely my own online journal which I also occasionally use to share the great film-related things LA has to offer. I know I shouldn't care, but I can't help it. People like the person below certainly make me wonder why I should even give a shit. Seriously. I went to the Bergman exhibit and you didn't and that should be enough, shouldn't it? Well, at least some people got to see the Bergman exhibit photos because of Criterion's behavior. Something good came out of it.

I deleted the posts on Criterion's wall. I don't have time for this shit. I have two festivals to prepare for and I'm editing a new film. Too bad a lot of people missed out, but that's the way it goes.

The Criterion CollectionHey Teri, that image was actually e-mailed by a colleague but it certainly looks like it came from your blog originally. We've cited your entry in the post. Hope that helps!

Kevin NashI see you haven't stopped bitching about insignificant things since last year...

This is why I would never allow photos at an exhibit. People take pictures of a written document that I own, publish the photos that serve a primarily informational purpose online, and then claim copyright to them when other people try to d...See More

Well, I do own the photo but that's not what's important here. What's important is that a profit making corporation used it to market its product. The only reason I bothered to take photos at the exhibit was that I felt it was very important that EVERYONE should see that exhibit. Not just the privileged few that live in Los Angeles. I'm lazy, I admit it. I went to the exhibit in the fall and I didn't write that post until March. I wasn't going to do it. But, I felt it was important and I spent a long time uploading the photos to the blog, which believe me, it's time consuming and a pain. Criterion is in the business of selling DVDs and I'm not. I simply wanted to share.

Look, what you wanted to do is noble and fine, but look at it from the perspective of an outsider watching this unfold. While Criterion is explicitly here to make money, your blog itself from a cursory glance, operates with implicit advertisement in mind to market yourself as a film-maker. Granted, that's very likely not the main raison d etre for your blog. Yeah, everyone knows you're right in this case, and I do to. I am not going to dispute that. However, your complaint against Criterion leaves most people like me cold and without empathy. If anything, I am not really mad at you but more mad at the people who run these kinds of exhibits these days. Not because they don't share everything to everyone, everywhere, but more so because they don't consider/think it's ok, that people copyright photos/videos of exhibits and then try to control how the information is released themselves. It's just asking for trouble. But back to the main issue, as of now, you have four links on Criterion's facebook page to your blog, and while other people do the same advertisement here and elsewhere online, they generally don't veil it by attacking criterion on a small and aggravating copyright issue. I think getting your citation/picture removal through an email would have been more than enough instead of going public to achieve effectively the same result with a few more blog hits to boot.

Look, if you or anyone takes the photo and uses it for a blog or whatever that's not for profit, I have no problem. I believe in that the internet is the only hope for democracy. Isn't that what the fight against SOPA was about? Criterion or any other DVD company is welcome to anything for free when they start giving away the films for free. If you have issues with me personally and my stupid little blog, well, I can't do anything about that. I'll be taking down the links because frankly, no amount of blog hits is worth this much grief.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

My latest comedy short film, Heartbreak in 209 Cuts, will have its next screening at the The Boyle Heights Latina Independent Film Extravaganza (BHLIFE), which will take place March 2nd - 4th, 2012 in celebration on International Women's Day.

BHLIFE is a celebration of Latinas, their voices and their visions. The mission of the festival is to build a network of Latina Filmmakers that will draw attention tot the growing number of Latinas working behind the camera. The films of these Latinas constitute a body of work that acts as a powerful statement against the stereotypical portrayals of Latinas on screen.

Prizes are awarded at the film festival but the ultimate goal is the unification of Latina filmmakers in transforming their imageto one that empowers and inspires.

Monday, February 06, 2012

I was so sad by Ben Gazzara’s death on Friday that I neglected to post I had just been notified my film got accepted into the San Diego Latino Film Festival.I haven’t had a film there since 2003 and this is very exciting for me.Seeing my film projected in a huge theater is my reward for all the hard work.I’m also nervous because this is the first short I’ve shot on digital.Film (as in celluloid, in case you’ve forgotten) projects very well regardless of the exhibition format, but I have no idea how the Canon 5D Mark II footage is going to look projected that big.It will definitely be a learning experience which I am really looking forward to.

Friday, February 03, 2012

Weird. Earlier today I posted how much I missed John even though I never met him. He died on February 3, 1989. And now, 23 years later, Ben is gone. I did get a chance to meet him, although very briefly. After his Q&A at the Cassavetes retrospective at the Cinefamily last March, I fought my way through his other fans just to shake his hand and thank him for his work. He was very gracious.

Tonight I will post the video of that Q &A for you to enjoy and remember them both as the great artists that they were.